DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
Members' Mausoleum => Calendar Events / Announcements Archive => Calendar Events / Announcements '25 I => Calendar Events / Announcements '10 I => Topic started by: Taeylor Collins on April 23, 2010, 05:44:20 PM
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Does anyfriends have an old VCR they don't use or would be willing to sell? Mine died and I am finding it impossible to find one. It's awful. And if I do they are expensive combo's and I just can't afford that as of now. Yes I guess I live in the dark ages but I still record my stuff with VCR because a DVR is just extra expense. Or if you know anyone that sells them cheap let me know! Thanks!
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I think the Salvation Army has a policy that they check out electronics before they sell them, but I'd ask. Last time I went to one though, no VCRs. I dread the day when mine gives out. I'm committed to VHS. I only have a film library now because of VHS clearance sales.
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Have you checked places like Sam's Club, Costco, etc.? They would probably have only combo's, too, but at really low prices. You need to buy a membership, but it's cheap and once you have one, you'll find yourself buying lots of stuff there (including tons of blank VCR tapes).
Gerard
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For what it's worth, there's a Sylvania VCR/DVD combo player on Amazon now for $34.04. However, it takes 2 to 4 weeks to ship for whatever reason, and I imagine you need it NOW because of the current TV shows you follow.
I would try trawling through the local Good Will and similar shops because some of them probably do have VCRs. I'd take a decent tape with me to try it out in the store before purchasing it however.
Good luck!
Steve
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I bought the vhs/dvd combo about 2 yrs ago. It sounds like a good idea to get a spare just in case since the prices are so low. Most of my DS videos are on vhs format. I have some of the dvds but although the picture is often times better than vhs, they have edited out so much of the great blooper material found on the vhs tapes, its just sad!
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Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
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It depends on whether you just want to play tapes or are planning on recording. Last year when I was looking for one, I could find players or even some that recorded, but didn't have their own tuner, so you could only record the channel you were watching. I finally managed to find a VCR - DVD recorder with a tuner, but had to pay a lot more than I wanted to.
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The DVDs are edited?!!
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I think they are talking about DVD RECORDERS. I had one until it died. You can burn stuff from VHS to DVD which is what I am working on.
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There's always eBay!
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I have a friend who is sending one as long as it works with the new digital TV. He hasn't hooked it up since it switched over. I had an old one and it worked fine. FINGERS CROSSED! I am waiting to hear from him! Thank God for good friends.
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Remember most VCR's have the RCA jack inputs you can use from your cable box or TV to be able to record without the problems of obsolescence with the digital TV switchover. I have Uverse cable tv and a non-HDTV set and had to do nothing for the switchover. Just depends on where your signal is coming from.
I would check some pawn shops or especially TV repair shops. Usually they have super cheap units they practically give away. Remember when VCR's cost 300 bucks and then you had to get them repaired and it was 150 bucks!!?? Good luck with your search!
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My first VCR cost over $500. It was wild when about 10 years later I saw a similar model for only slightly more than $100. But I wasn't all that upset because my first VCR gave me over 10 years of excellent service - and without it I would never have been able to tape DS when it was in syndication in the mid-to-late '80s. So it's all good. Though it does make one wonder how cheap Blu Ray player/recorders will be one day in the not too distant future...
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...TOP-LOADER VCR's ruled!! and they weighed like 40 pounds because of all the metal in the workings and outer casing! Had a Magnavox one that lasted about 9 years. Now that's what I call hardware!!!
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My first VCR was 1000K! I remember when my father bought it. It was gigantic but boy did it last for about 13 years. I read a book that a whistle blower wrote and it included the fact that electronics are made cheap so we have to continue to buy them. And I truly believe it....
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My first VCR was 1000K!
Wow - in what year did your father buy that VCR? Or was it that your family wanted one so badly that you didn't wait for sale?
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On that note I will also say that videotapes were MUCH better back in the early 80's. Much more oxide and thicker tape. I have stuff I taped 28 years ago that still plays like it did then but blank tapes from the 90's were crap. Then you'd spend an extra 5 bucks on those Gold Maxell tapes that were at least passable. Price goes up and quality goes down. Its the way of things! Unfortunately.
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Well, not all the tapes from the '90s were crap. The ones I used to tape DS on the Sci-Fi Channel have held up quite nicely. They still look as bright and crisp as when I first made them between '95 and '97. Though I will concede that that's most probably because I bought all extra high grade tapes for DS (and I'll also concede that the tapes I made in the '80s when DS was in local syndication are probably even better). Any standard tapes that I'd used back then have long since been thrown out. But then, I haven't recorded anything with a VCR in I don't know how long...
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My father had a great job and he wanted one when they first came out so he got one! It had to be around 1983 because I still have the tape I tapped "SHE BOP" by Cyndi Lauper when it premiered on MTV. It's interesting that this has turned into a topic about VCR's...it's cool!
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no one answered magnus question. "the dvds are edited?" some of the dvds have bloopers edited out. most notable was the BATHIA MAPES blooper where someone off camera is heard yelling out her lines. in the dvd release that audio has been removed.
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I didn't know he was referring to the series or I missed something! [ghost_wacko]
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Thanks Joe. Unfortunately, that's an excellent reason to hold on to VHS forever... unfortunate since old VHS is really all I'm liable to get my hands on. Oh well, I have most of DS.
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A bit off topic but not completely. Magnus do you have all of the show through the end so you can continue the WP??? I sure hope so as I love your posts. Yeah it sucks that they edited that famous blooper but thankfully its on the Bloopers DVD and they quit editing them out.
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That is a travesty if they have edited some episodes... What about the message that comes up on some DVD volumes saying that the episodes containing technical problems have NOT been edited. I guess I'll have to rely on the blooper compilation from now on. My life is forever changed now. I have been living a lie.
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RQ that was an accident from what I gather from the technician who worked on that volume. If I am wrong anyone correct me....were there any other bloopers edited out?
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Taeylor, I do have the rest of DS to the end. I'm missing most of 1966-7 pre-Barnabas, and a bit of 1897 with zombie Q and the arrival of Laura.
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There are topics on the various Current Talk boards that discuss what has been edited out of the DVDs.
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Okay thanks MB for the heads up. We will get our information from there and back on the VCR topic. I wish they were made like they were in the past. Luckily my friend is sending me a SHARP that is about 5 years old and only used for a few months complete with remote. I thank everyone for their suggestions!